Interaction of the Solar Wind with the Boundary Layers

• Predictive understanding of reconnection at the magnetopause and in the magnetotail.
• Predictive understanding of the dayside coupling of solar wind and magnetospheric-ionospheric plasmas.
• Discovery of the source of flows in the magnetotail.
• Discovery of the spatial and temporal scales for energy transfer and dissipation in the partially ionized, magnetized plasmas.
• Determination of the occurrence and role of parallel electric fields in the magnetosphere-ionosphere system.
• Determination of the 3-D magnetospheric plasma circulation pattern and its dependence on solar wind conditions.

Storage and Release of Energy in the Magnetosphere

• Determination of what triggers the explosive release of energyin the geomagnetic tail.
• Identification of the acceleration mechanisms that produce relativistic electron radiation belts.
• Determination of the onset site and propagation paths of substorm energy releases.
• Quantitative understanding of the transition from auroral substorms to full-fledged space plasma storms in the inner magnetosphere.

• Quantitative understanding of the basic physics underlying the penetration of various planetary waves into the upper atmosphere and their overall role in the dynamics, energetics, and electrodynamics of the system.
• Determination of the chemical pathways that redistribute absorbed solar energy.
• Discovery of the degree to which anthropogenic changes are occurring in the upper atmosphere.
• Elucidation of the connections between the tropospheric and ionospheric electric fields (sprites and jets).